Coya is a writer, director, scholar, and arts administrator with a deep commitment to racial and economic equity in the arts. She specializes in co-created performance and applied theater, and is the Director of Strategy for the historic Free Street Theater in Chicago, whose mission is to create original performance by, for, about, with, and in Chicago’s historically divested communities. She is the co-author, with Chloe Johnston, of Ensemble-Made Performance: A Guide to Devised Theater, and the author of Volume Two of the forthcoming open source textbook Decentering Theatre Histories: A Survey of Dramatic Practice Through the Ages. Coya is a Professor of Theatre Studies in The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she teaches classes in directing, history, and community-engaged performance. Her research focuses on ghost stories as cultural archives, as well as economic and geographic disparity in the Chicago arts economy. She is the co-Chair of the Cultural Advisory Council for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. She serves on the Board of Commissioners for the Chicago Park District.